the so-called fiscal cliff. that combination of tax hikes and spending cuts many economists warn could throw this country back into a recession. the president and top congressional leaders met at the white house and it appeared they made progress. since then talks have hit a bit of a rough patch. joining me from louisville kentucky, for a progress report of sorts on whether negotiations stand right now, kentucky congressman john yarmuth. good afternoon to you. >> good afternoon. where do the negotiations stand right now? >> right now, this is something where the staffs of the leadership in both the house and senate and white house are trying to work through possible think they're making a lot of progress and, for instance, one of the ideas that was brought up by republicans was, just eliminate the preferences on the first $380,000 worth of income for those people making more than that and charge everybody 35%, which means that people wouldn't have to vote to raise the highest rate. the problem with that is peopl